Kendrick is hands down one of my favorite artists right now, and this is the song that introduced me to his music. It also just so happens that this track uses a sample of an Eric Reed song called "The Thorn" on Willie Jones' album, Next Phase. Eric Reed has been a great mentor to me over the years, and was my teacher my first 2 years at Juilliard. So, I thought it was only natural that I do my own cover of this.

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You might imagine that a resume including both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music from Juilliard and credits with Aretha Franklin, Q-Tip, and Kanye West would leave most 20-somethings with a serious sense of self-satisfaction. Watching pianist Kris Bowers recreate Kendrick Lamar’s “Rigamortus,” no smugness comes across–a piece suggesting an imagination unusual to the world of YouTube covers.

With a matchbook, some clothespins, a set of keys, and his piano, Bowers transforms the ivories into an acoustic MPC, extracting expected and unexpected sounds and rhythms alike to cast one of Kendrick’s breakthroughs in an entrancing new light.

Watch Kris Bowers take on one of rap’s titans and come out on top above.-- P&P

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